Chang Lin Tien

Speaking to the business-oriented Comstock Club, UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien on Monday criticized "buy-American" fervor as a "simple answer" and said pressure for such quick fixes is based on fear. He told the private club audience of an incident at the Citrus Bowl in which he was met by chants of "Buy American" from a small group of people--apparently Clemson boosters--after the Berkeley football team won the New Year's Day game.

Chang-Lin Tien, the No. 2 administrator at UC Irvine, is a leading candidate to become chancellor of UC Berkeley and thus the first Asian-American to head a UC campus, sources said Sunday. Tien, a 53-year-old native of China, is an internationally recognized expert in mechanical engineering and a former vice chancellor for research at Berkeley. He joined the faculty there in 1959 and went to UC Irvine as executive vice chancellor in 1988.

In your April 12 editorial, "Hey, Maybe It Is Whom You Know," you imply that Regent Ward Connerly's inquiry about a student applicant led to the admission of that applicant by UC Berkeley. I have been informed by the Administrative Review Committee that that is absolutely not the case. The applicant's case was placed on the Administrative Review Committee roster so that a status report could be provided to Connerly. The committee took no action and no status report was ever provided. The individual you cited was admitted on the basis of merit alone by one of UC Berkeley's professional schools.

Chang-Lin Tien, currently second in command at UC Irvine, is a leading candidate to become chancellor of UC Berkeley and thus the first Asian-American to head a UC campus, sources said Sunday. Tien, a 53-year-old China native, is an internationally recognized expert in mechanical engineering and a former vice chancellor for research at UC Berkeley. He joined UC Berkeley in 1959 and came to UC Irvine as executive vice chancellor in 1988.

In a sudden and surprising announcement Tuesday, the much-beloved chancellor of UC Berkeley, Chang-Lin Tien, said he will resign next year, dealing another blow to the battered reputation of the nine-campus state university system.

A stereotype has lurked behind the controversy over the allegations of anti-Asian bias in UC Berkeley's admissions policies: Asian-Americans as academic super-achievers. Discipline and other cultural factors have propelled Asian-Americans to extraordinary successes in higher education. But, Asian-American activists say, bigots resent their achievement and fear universities will be overrun by Asian students.

The news of Chang-Lin Tien's appointment as chancellor of UC Berkeley evoked three reactions on the UC Irvine campus Thursday--happiness, disappointment and anxiety. Administrators, faculty and students alike were happy for Tien, the campus's popular executive vice chancellor. But at the same time, they were disappointed by the loss of a prominent and well-respected educator. There was also concern.

The nine University of California chancellors received their first pay raises in three years Friday when the UC Board of Regents agreed that its top executives--whose annual salaries range from about $165,000 to $243,000--are underpaid. Over the objection of Student Regent Edward Gomez, the board voted to give eight of its chancellors raises of 3.5% to 5%. But UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien got a $20,600 raise--amounting to a 10.

The UC Board of Regents on Thursday named Chang-Lin Tien, a mechanical engineer born in China, as the new chancellor at Berkeley. Tien, now second in command at UC Irvine, will be the first Asian-American to head a UC campus. Asian-American activists say the appointment is especially symbolic because UC Berkeley has been investigated several times for possible anti-Asian bias in admissions.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien's surprising announcement that he will step down next year is but the latest in a series of resignations, retirements and non-renewals that are changing the face of education in the Golden State. From public school systems to the state's top universities, California's education leaders are turning over so rapidly that many current chief executives can count their years in the job on the fingers of one hand.